Posts tagged declining enrollment
Opinion: California’s Kitchen Nightmare: Union Demands Rise as Enrollment Falls
March 20, 2026 // Even though public school enrollment has fallen sharply since the pandemic, most California districts have continued adding staff. Now teachers unions are pressing districts to commit to more expensive labor contracts, even as the funding they receive remains tied to the number of students they serve. Earlier this month, teachers in two Sacramento-area school districts walked off the job after contract negotiations stalled, bringing the number of teacher strikes in California to six this school year. And more may be on the way. Unions in Los Angeles and Berkeley have already authorized strikes if negotiations fail. These strikes are not isolated incidents. They are part of a coordinated statewide pressure campaign by the California Teachers Association (CTA) called “We Can’t Wait,”
Wave of California teacher strikes ‘is no coincidence’
March 4, 2026 // Thousands of California K-12 teachers have walked off their jobs or voted to strike in the past few months, as part of a strategic, statewide effort by the California Teachers Association to boost salaries and benefits — and get the public’s attention. “All these districts going out on strike — it’s not a coincidence at all,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union. “Everywhere in the state there are people with unmet needs. The conditions have been ripe for a long time.”
Op-Ed: Mayor Adams seeks to pour more good money after bad in surrender to teaching unions before election
December 2, 2024 // This is madness: The city Department of Education spends about $30,000 per student; there’s no reason to spend even more on schools that are teaching ever-fewer kids. No reason except for the fact that those schools would need to lay off teachers to meet their new budgets, and the UFT is outraged at the thought of losing a dime in dues.
Oakland teachers union opens vote on strike authorization
April 25, 2023 // There is general agreement that teachers are not paid enough. But at the offices of parent advocacy group The Oakland REACH, founder Lakisha Young said while she supports better salaries for educators, it should not be at the expense of the students. "Now we're being asked to sign on to an action that is disruptive to our children, just in support of teachers. And it's like, no, we can support teachers and not support a teacher strike," said Young. "It's what's been put on the table and maybe we need to create a new playbook behind this. Because this has become excessive." Another REACH member, Lupe Canchola, said, like a lot of parents, she will be hard-pressed to find a place for her child if the schools close. She said, in the past, she always supported the teachers' work actions.
Sacramento schools again at risk of financial distress with enrollment declines, new contracts
April 26, 2022 // Sacramento City Unified School District is again facing financial distress just weeks after it approved labor agreements to end its eight-day teacher strike, Sacramento county education officials said last week. The Sacramento Office of Education gave the district's budget a negative certification, stating the contracts and the strike itself would cost the district millions of dollars and could threaten insolvency.